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Like the Academy Awards and Tony Awards, a considerable number of gay men have an affinity for the Kennedy Center Honors because of its celebration of personalities in the performing arts. Since the first awards were handed out in 1978 a steady stream of accomplished gay men have been chosen as honorees. However, not until this year was a self-proclaimed lesbian awarded the honor - Lily Tomlin. (But rumored lesbians such as Mary Martin, Claudette Colbert, Katharine Hepburn and Dolly Parton have been honored). The ceremony takes place in early December (with the President and First Lady in attendance); the telecast of it airs a few days after Christmas on CBS. Interestingly, the colors of the award's sash are those of the rainbow flag. In 2002 DC's Gay Men's Chorus performed as part of the tribute to Elizabeth Taylor.

2014 honoree, Lily Tomlin

23 of the 187 recipients have been gay. Four years had two gay inductees: 1979, 1986, 1993 and 2010. (In 1989 Claudette Colbert and Mary Martin were honorees). The longest stretch in which no gay honorees were named was the five years between 2005-2009. Conversely, between 1979 and 1988 every year but one (1989) had a gay recipient.

GAY HONOREES

To be considered, a candidate must be living at the time of their induction. Of the 23 gay honorees (listed below), nine are still alive. The first gay honorees were Aaron Copland and Tennessee Williams in 1979. One glaring oversight was playwright and director Arthur Laurents (who died in 2011 at the age of 93). Perhaps it was because of his prickly personality?

Bill T. Jones

Aaron Copland (1979) - composer (died in 1990, age 90)

Tennessee Williams (1979) - novelist (died in 1983, age 73)

Leonard Bernstein (1980) - composer/conductor (died in 1990, age 72)

Jerome Robbins (1981) - choreographer (died in 1998, age 79)

Virgil Thomson (1982) - composer (died in 1989, age 92)

Gian Carlo Menotti (1984) - conductor/composer (died in 2007, age 95)

Frederick Loewe (1985) – lyricist (died in 1988, age 86)

Merce Cunningham (1986) - dancer/choreographer (died in 2009, age 90)

Antony Tudor (1986) - ballet choreographer (died in 1987, age 79)

Alwin Nikolais (1987) - dancer/choreographer (died in 1993, age 82)

Alvin Ailey (1988) - dancer/choreographer (died in 1989, age 58)

Paul Taylor (1992) - dancer/choreographer (born in 1930)

Stephen Sondheim (1993) - composer/lyricist (born in 1930)

Arthur Mitchell (1993) - dancer/choreographer (born in 1934)

Edward Albee (1996) - playwright (born in 1928)

Fred Ebb & John Kander (1998) - lyricists (Ebb died in 2004, age 76; Kander is still alive, born in 1927)

Earlier in the year I wrote a post about popular LGBT personalities, and another about gay icons over the age of 75. This latest post provides an overview of accomplished gay men and lesbians who are no longer with us. I've drawn up a list of just over 250 individuals who've made their mark. Of them, about two-thirds were open about their sexual orientation.

The median age of these gay pioneers at the time of their death was 63. Taking out the 20% who died of AIDS (at a median age of 45), the median age of those who died from other other causes rises to a still relatively young 68. The oldest, architect Philip Johnson (in photo below) was 98 when he died in 2005. Del Martin and Mabel Hampton were the oldest lesbians, both 87 at the time of their deaths in 2008 and 1989, respectively. The youngest person on the list is Pedro Zamora, a cast member of MTV's The Real World, who died from AIDS at the age of 22. He's followed by actor James Dean who was 24 when he was killed in a car accident. The woman who was youngest at the time of her death was Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote Raisin in the Sun. She was 34.

GAY PERSONALITIES WHO LIVED PAST 90

Age

Philip Johnson

Architect

98

John Gielgud

Actor

96

Gian Carlo Menotti

Composer/Conductor

95

Paul Cadmus

Artist

95

Arthur Laurents

Playwright

93

Bunny Breckinridge

Actor & Drag Queen

93

Horst P. Horst

Fashion Photographer

93

Michael Tippett

Composer

93

Van Johnson

Actor

92

Virgil Thomson

Composer

92

EM Forster

Author

91

M. Somerset Maugham

Playwright/Novelist

91

Aaron Copland

Composer

90

Harry Hay

Gay Rights Activist

90

Merce Cunningham

Dancer/Choreographer

90

Quentin Crisp

Writer/Raconteur

90

GAY PERSONALITIES WHO DIED BEFORE AGE 40

Jermaine Stewart

Singer

39

Willi Smith

Fashion Designer

39

Federico Garcia Lorca

Poet/Dramatist

38

Larry Levan

DJ

38

Michael Callen

Songwriter/AIDS Activist

38

Arthur Rimbaud

Poet

37

Marlon Riggs

Filmmaker

37

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Director/Screenwriter

37

Cyrano de Bergerac

French Dramatist

36

Sal Mineo

Actor

36

Joe Orton

Playwright

34

Lorraine Hansbury

Playwright

34

Casey Donovan

Porn Star

33

Brian Epstein

Manager of Beatles

32

David Cole

Record Producer

32

Hart Crane

Poet, Life Savers heir

32

Patrick Cowley

Disco Producer

32

Franz Schubert

Composer

31

Keith Haring

Urban Artist/Activist

31

Rudolph Valentino

Actor

31

James Dean

Actor

24

Pedro Zamora

Reality Star

22

Sixty-one persons (about 25% of the total) were born before the 20th century. The furthest back in time was the Roman emperor Hadrian, followed by Richard the Lionhearted and Henry II.

Roman Emperor Hadrian

LGBT ICONS BORN BEFORE 1850

Born-Died

Hadrain

Roman Emperor

76-138

Richard the Lionhearted

English King

1157-1199

Edward II

King

1284-1327

Leonardo da Vinci

Painter/Sculptor

1452-1519

Cyrano de Bergerac

French Dramatist

1619-1655

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Composer

1632-1687

Arcangelo Corelli

Composer/Violinist

1653-1713

Franz Schubert

Composer

1797-1828

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist

1803-1882

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Feminist

1815-1902

Henry David Throeau

Author, Poet

1817-1862

Walt Whitman

Poet

1819-1892

Susan B. Anthony

Feminist

1820-1906

Emily Dickinson

Poet

1830-1886

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Composer

1840-1893

Henry James

Writer

1843-1916

Looking at how many search results their names turn up on Google, the median number is 440,000. Sixty-one generated more than 1 million search results, with Alexander McQueen (pictured below) and Leonardo Da Vinci the top two, well ahead of the rest. After them, the three others with 5 million or more search results are Oscar Wilde, Divine and Andy Warhol. Frida Kahlo is the woman with the most, ranked twelfth with 2.8 million. Sixty-four have fewer than 100,000, with the lowest number being for Mabel Hampton, Franciscan Friar Mychal Judge and drag performer Bunny Breckinridge, all who turned up 7,000.

GAY ICONS WITH MOST GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS

Alexander McQueen

Fashion Designer

Leonardo da Vinci

Painter/Sculptor

Oscar Wilde

Writer/Poet

Divine

Actress

Andy Warhol

Artist

Yves Saint Laurent

Fashion Designer

James Dean

Actor

Freddie Mercury

Musician

Sylvester

Disco Singer

Christian Dior

Fashion Designer

Frida Kahlo

Artist

Perry Ellis

Fashion Designer

Virginia Woolf

Writer

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist

John Gielgud

Actor

By profession, actors/actresses and authors/novelists have the greatest representation, comprising close to 40% of the total. Then there are occupations with just one LGBT person associated with them, such as architect (Philip Johnson); mathematician (Alan Turing); chef (James Beard); economist (John Maynard Keynes); marine biologist (Rachel Carson); and astronaut (Sally Ride).

Economist John Maynard Keynes

TOP PROFESSIONS OF GAY ANCESTORS

Actors/Actresses

67

26%

Authors/Novelists

34

13%

Activists (Various Causes)

21

8%

Composers/Songwriters

21

8%

Poets

17

7%

Directors (Movie/B'way/TV)

15

6%

Playwrights

12

5%

Choreographers/Dancers

11

4%

Fashion Designers

10

4%

Singers

9

4%

Artists

7

3%

Athletes

6

2%

Photographers

6

2%

Finally, regarding their deaths, more than half died from either AIDS, various forms of cancer or heart attacks. Additionally, nine were murdered, eight took their own life, seven died in various accidents and two died from drug overdoses. It should be noted that not everyone who died before they turned 50 died from AIDS as nearly half died from other causes.

Besides being very accomplished in their various professions, some of our gay forebears were also blessed with strikingly good looks (not surprisingly, many were products of Hollywood's star-making machine.) What follows are those men, in alphabetical order, who turned heads and caused fainting spells when they were in their prime.

Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972)

Spanish fashion designer whose house of Balenciaga thrived in the 1940s and 1950s.

Alan Bates (1934-2003)

English actor especially known among gay audiences for his homoerotic wrestling scene with Oliver Reed in the 1969 movie Women in Love (whose screenplay was written by none other than Larry Kramer). In the photo I've chosen I see a little bit of Zac Efron in Bates' facial expression.

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Composing and conducting were just two of his many talents. Somewhat gawky as a young man, Lenny came into his own as a sex symbol as he approached his 40s. And as an older man he cut quite the dashing figure in his tux while conducting the New York Philharmonic. In pop culture he's best known for composing the music for West Side Storyand his series of Young People's Concerts on CBS.

Montgomery Clift (1920-1966)

A critically acclaimed (four Oscar nominations), and handsome, actor whose good looks were marred somewhat after a serious car accident in the mid-1950s caused facial scarring. This was the beginning of a downward spiral that ended with his death ten years later.

Farley Granger (1925-2011)

Actor best known for his starring role in the 1948 Hitchcock movie Rope, which had a gay subtext. Looked a bit like Eddie Fisher.

Rock Hudson (1925-1985)

There's eye candy and then there is Eye Candy, and that would be Rock Hudson. If People Magazine had been around in the 1950s and '60s he probably would have been chosen its Sexiest Man Alive multiple times.

Larry Kert (1930-1991)

Actor, singer and dancer, he's best known for his role as Tony in the Broadway production of West Side Story. Then in 1970 he replaced Dean Jones in the role of Bobby in Company. In this photo he somewhat resembles Liam Neeson.

Arthur Laurents (1917-2011)

Playwright, stage director and screenwriter best known for West Side Story, Gypsy and La Cage aux Faux. Had a reputation for being very difficult to work with (ask Patti Lu Pone) and burned many bridges (ask Stephen Sondheim). This demeanor is probably what kept him alive into his 90s.

Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936)

Poet and novelist who was executed in the early weeks of the Spanish Civil War.

Jean Marais (1913-1998)

French actor (stage and screen), director and sculptor. Wildly popular in France for his roles as a swashbuckler. Had a 24-year relationship with novelist/poet Jean Cocteau.

Kerwin Mathews (1926-2007)

Not to be confused with Sherwin Williams, Mathews was a B-list actor whose roles ranged from Sinbad the Sailor to Johan Strauss (on the Wonderful World of Disney). Reminds me of Paul Rudd

Sal Mineo (1939-1976)

Actor who rose to fame at a young age with roles in movies such as Rebel Without a Cause, Giant and Exodus before he was 22 years old. More cute than handsome, he tried to change his image as he got older and directed/starred in a stage production of Fortune and Mens' Eyes.

George Nader (1921-2002)

Actor who appeared mostly in low-budget movies and TV series. Perhaps best known for being pals with Rock Hudson, and some suggest they were romantically involved. The photo below of them together brings to mind the even more famous poolside photo of Cary Grant and "roommate" Randolph Scott.

Ramon Novarro (1899-1968)

Actor in the same mold as Rudolph Valentino, who was a contemporary. (I have an acquaintenance, an accountant, whose name is Ramon Novarro.)

Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993)

Acclaimed ballet dancer, he defected to the West from Russia when he was 23. He and porn star/director Michael Lucas look as if they sprang from the same gene pool.

Al Parker (1952-1992)

The porn superstar of the 1980s, best known for such classics as Oversize Load, Heavy Equipment and Inches. Not to be confused with '80s disco singer Paul Parker (Right on Target), who's still alive.

Anthony Perkins (1932-1992)

Boyishly handsome actor best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. 15 years later in the movie Mahogany he played the possessive/unhinged photographer who discovered Diana Ross's character. Interestingly, his character's issues with his homosexuality were similar to Perkins' struggles in real life.

Howard Rollins Jr. (1950-1996)

Dramatic actor best known for his role as Coalhouse Walker in the movie version of Ragtime in 1981. This was his first movie and he received an Oscar nomination for his role.

Yves St. Laurent (1936-2008)

Although this world-renowned fashion designer wasn't leading-man sexy, he had a boyish appeal when he was first starting out. Like Anthony Perkins and Montgomery Clift, St. Laurent's adult life was characterized by mental anguish.

Tom Tryon (1926-1991)

Tryon was one of a number of actors I wasn't' familiar with when I began work on this post. Others were Jean Marais, Kerwin Mathews and George Nader. In his older years he was the spitting image of Mitt Romney.

Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926)

Famed actor who looks very much like Cristobal Balenciaga and Ramon Novarro. In many of the photos I've come across he's holding a cigarette. (But he didn't die of lung cancer.)

Gore Vidal (1925-2012)

Novelist, essayist, writer of screenplays and an intellectual gadfly, Vidal wrote the novel Myra Breckinridge and created headlines when he and William F. Buckley Jr. got into a heated argument on TV during the 1968 Democratic Convention. Vidal called Buckley a Nazi and Buckley called Vidal a queer.

Finally, some former heartthrobs are still alive, including Richard Chamberlain (80 years old) and Tab Hunter (83). Of all the names on this list Chamberlain is the one most identified with TV, beginning with Dr. Kildare in the early 1960s. And Hunter, besides having a movie career, is the only one to have a #1 song, Young Love in 1957.

This post celebrates nearly three dozen accomplished gay and lesbian individuals who are at least 75 years of age. In their formative years, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s, life posed many challenges because of their sexual orientation. However, they managed to excel in their careers even if it required hiding their true nature. Most are now open about their orientation and are beacons of inspiration for young LGBTs. What follows are some top-line findings. (The list can be found at the end of the post.)

The oldest of the group is gossip columnist Liz Smith, who is 91, ten days older than director Franco Zeffirelli. Prolific composer Ned Rorem is 90. (Deceased gay icons who lived beyond 90 include architect Philip Johnson, who died at 98; actor John Gielgud, who lived to 96; and artist Paul Cadmus, who was 95 when he died in 1999.)

Probably the most famous are composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (84) and fashion designer Giorgio Armani (78).

Only one person on the list is Black, singer Johnny Mathis (78) and just one is of Asian heritage, actor George Takei. None are Hispanic (the oldest is Dallas County sheriff Lupe Valdez, who is 66).

Johnny Mathis

Edward Albee

Larry Kramer

Tommy Tune

This seasoned group has worked in sixteen different occupations, with fashion designers and playwrights represented the most, by four names each. Arnold Scaasi; Valentino; Karl Lagerfeld; and Giorgio Armani are the designers (all foreign born), while Edward Albee; John Glines;Mart Crowley; and Terrence McNally are the playwrights. In addition, there are three directors, three composers and three authors.

Ian McKellen will join this group next month when he turns 75 on May 25 ) and Lily Tomlin on Sept. 1. Three more will turn 75 next year: author Edmund White, fashion designer Bob Mackie and former Congressman Barney Frank. The most recent death of someone in the 75+ group was pianist Van Cliburn who was 78 when he died in February of 2013.

If there lives weren't cut short by AIDS some well-known gay men would no doubt be part of this group, including choreographers Robert Joffrey and Alvin Ailey; athlete Tom Waddell; dancer Rudolf Nureyev; actors Rock Hudson, Anthony Perkins, Larry Kert and Robert Reed; pianist Liberace; and French philosopher Michel Foucault.

Befitting an event that attracts more than just the most avid football fans, the Super Bowl has probably drawn its share of gay men due to its organizers' choice of performers, some who sang the National Anthem, others who were part of the halftime show.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

The National Anthem's ending is a showcase for diva embellishment. Diana Ross was the first diva to sing it, at Super Bowl XVI in 1982. Two years later Barry Manilow got the nod. Then in 1991 Whitney Houston received accolades for her bombastic version in 1997 Luther Vandross joined Barry Manilow as the only other male diva to sing; Cher performed in 1999, Mariah Carey in 2002, Beyonce in 2004, Jennifer Hudson in 2009 and Christina Aguilera in 2011 (she flubbed one of the lines). In my estimation, here are the three best:

Beyonce - Sung in her hometown of Houston, this is the Super Bowl best remembered for the notorious "Nipplegate" incident at halftime between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. I prefer to remember Beyonce's sterling performance instead.

Cher - Wearing an auburn colored wig, Cher was in the midst of her third or fourth comeback, this one propelled by her auto-tuned hit Believe (which won a Grammy for Best Dance Song). Her Super Bowl performance, however, was without electronic frills - and quite powerful.

Jennifer Hudson. She gave it her all, just three months after her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago.

And although Whitney's performance was powerful, she lost points because of unfortunate choice of attire - a white warm-up suit suit along with a white head band.

This year legendary soprano Rene Fleming will sing, the first non-pop singer to do so in nine years. Still, it should be a thrill for opera queens.

HALFTIME SHOW

In the early years of the Super Bowl Carol Channing appeared during halftime at the 1970 game (likely singing Hello Dolly) and again in 1972 (joined by Ella Fitzgerald). Then there was a long lapse before Diana Ross headlined in 1996. Hers was most dramatic as she first appeared in a puff of smoke and then later was whisked away by a helicopter at the end of her performance (found at the 10:30 mark of this video clip). Chakha Khan was one of a group in 1999; Tina Turner, Christina Aguilera and Toni Braxton appeared together in 2000; Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige appeared in 2001; and then eleven years went by before Madonna (in Egyptian headdress) and Beyonce (in a Victoria's Secret meets dominatrix outfit) got the honors in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Springtime was an important time for Barbra Streisand's early career as her first TV appearance (Jack Paar, 1961); two Broadway shows; two TV specials; and her Oscar for Best Actress (Funny Girl) all occurred in March or April. The first of her TV specials aired on April 28, 1965. Titled "My Name is Barbra", it coincided with the release of her album by the same name.

The special was shot in black & white and featured no guests, just Barbra. Amazingly, the hour-long telecast was jam-packed with 27 songs (actually, less than an hour when taking commericals into account). The special was critically acclaimed, won three Emmy Awards, and was followed in 1966 by her next special "Color Me Barbra" , which would be another tour de force.

Forgive some of our gay elders if they look askance when the younger generation gushes about seeing the likes of Cher, Barbra or Madonna in concert. This may be because, in their minds, they saw the concert, i.e., Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall. This wildly acclaimed performance took place on Sunday, April 23, 1961. And although she was a showbiz veteran, at the time of the concert Judy was still only 38 years old (just four years older than Marilyn Monroe).

Judy's career had been somewhat fallow since the mid-1950s when she appeared in A Star is Born in 1954. She and her managers decided 1961 would be the year for a comeback. After all, she still had quite a reservoir of goodwill from fans to tap into - and she was saddled with debt. Her Carnegie Hall concert was part of a larger tour that went on during April and May. (In addition to the concert tour, she also landed a small, but pivotal, role in the movie Judgment at Nuremberg, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.) In May she returned to Carnegie Hall for another sold-out performance, and then in July she performed at the Forest Hills Tennis Club in Queens.

Judy's live concert album won five Grammy Awards and was the nation's #1 album for 13 weeks. The following year she starred with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in an acclaimed TV special. Due to its ratings success CBS decided to give Judy her own variety show the following year. Unfortunately, it lasted just one season, largely because it had the misfortune of being scheduled opposite Bonanza. Still, Judy was back!

45 years later out singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who wasn't even born until 1973, gave the very same concert at Carnegie Hall on two nights. He seemed to have much fun as Judy did - and the audience was almost as adoring - but the reviews weren't nearly as glowing. Here, below, is his version of Judy's San Francisco.

The phrase "on the down low", or the DL, refers to men of color who, while not identifying themselves as being gay, have furtive sex with other men. This slang was picked up by the media at the turn of the 21st century and it picked up steam a few years later with articles in TIME, The Village Voice and the New York Times Magazine. Then Oprah introduced it to her viewers during an episode of her show that aired on April 14, 2004.

Of course, while the DL may be a black construct, men with wives and girlfriends who sneak off to have sex with other men is hardly limited to blacks. It's been explained that the term was coined because of an aversion many black men have to being labeled as gay. (Based on the black men I've known, quite a generalization.) Apparently, in the minds of these men, having sex with a man isn't the same thing as being gay, which they equate with being effeminate. (I wonder if a similar term has been coined in Arabic for Muslim men?)

Today, thanks to online chat rooms and the iPad app Grindr, sneaking off for a quickie has never been easier or more tempting. (Fooling around in the steam room at the gym is so 20th century.) Because of these new means of communication, wives and girlfriends would surely be freaked if they knew the extent to which husbands and boyfriends play around with other men before work, during lunch and after work.

However, it's hardly a new phenomenon. In the book Gay Manhattan, which talks of gay life in the first half of the 20th century, author George Chauncey revealed that it wasn't uncommon for a straight blue collar guy to have a gay acquaintance on the side to get him off (without reciprocation) whenever their wives weren't able to provide for all their sexual needs.

1964 was an outstanding year on Broadway. It began with the opening of Hello, Dolly! and at the end of the year, Fiddler on the Roof got the 1964-65 theater season off to a rousing start. And in between the two was Funny Girl, which opened on March 26, 1964. 21-year-old Barbra Streisand starred, but it had taken a while for her name to come up during casting discussions. Before she was approached, one singer whose name was tossed around was Eydie Gorme; however, she would consider the role only if her husband, Steve Lawrence, was cast in the role of Nicky Arnstein!

Despite receiving eight Tony nominations, Funny Girl went home empty-handed as Hello, Dolly!was the big winner, with ten. However, Barbra would win an Oscar as Best Actress for the movie version, which was released in 1968. (It was the top grossing film of the year.) And when Hello Dolly! was made into a feature film in 1969, it was Streisand who was cast in the title role, not Broadway Dolly's!Carol Channing. (This was also Channing's fate when Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was made into a movie in 1953 and Marilyn Monroe was chosen over her, despite Channing's acclaimed performance in Blondes on Broadway.)

Now a single woman, and starring in her own variety show, 29-year-old Cher was in the midst of Version 3 of her career. (V1 was as a singing duo with Sonny in the mid-1960's; V2 began in 1971 with their CBS variety show). Her "emancipation" warranted a TIME Magazine cover story* and this glamorous cover from the mid-March 1975 became an instant classic. (And since then Cher's career has continued its iterations, including Hollywood Cher; Disco Diva Cher; Infomercial Cher; and Retirement Tour Cher.)

*Cover date of 3/17/75 but on newsstands March 11.

Four months after Cher's TIME cover Elton John would get one of his own as well. Other gay icons bestowed with covers have included Liza Minnelli (1972)*, Linda Ronstadt (1977), Madonna (1985) and Bette Midler (1987). But none compare to Cher's in terms of "Wow!" factor (But Rondstadt's sultry cover comes close).

*Surprisingly, while Liza merited a cover story her even more iconic mother never had one.